Groupe COMBRONDE

What Groupe COMBRONDE does

Groupe COMBRONDE is a privately held, family-owned French multimodal logistics group founded in 1945 in Thiers (Auvergne) and currently led in its third generation by Fabien Combronde (Pr\u00e9sident) and C\u00e9line Combronde (Directeur G\u00e9n\u00e9ral). Its legal entity is SAS FNC FINANCES, registered with the RCS of Clermont-Ferrand. The Group provides integrated transport (road, rail, river), warehousing, packaging, customs brokerage, in-house training, vehicle maintenance and real estate development for logistics platforms to industrial and manufacturing enterprises across France, with selected international FTL road services into Europe.

The core technology stack is operational rather than digital-platform-native: a 100% EURO VI and 100% geolocated fleet of ~1,500 registered vehicles, 9 owned rail platforms running 2,200 trains per year to Le Havre and Fos-sur-Mer, 3 owned river barges on the Rh\u00f4ne carrying 30,000 EVP/year and 1,150 t/week of ash, and 300,000 m\u00b2 of warehousing across 15 logistics sites, 82,000 m\u00b2 of which carry photovoltaic panels. OEA-C customs status (12 years), Qualiopi training certification (GC Comp\u00e9tences), EcoVadis 2023, LABEL CO2 and Coq Vert membership underpin the compliance and ESG positioning.

Revenue is generated through contract-based B2B engagements with industrial shippers across road transport, intermodal rail, river freight, managed warehousing (1PL\u20133PL), packaging, customs brokerage, vehicle maintenance and Qualiopi training. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The Group sells exclusively through direct enterprise sales via 25 owned French agency sites plus inbound via the corporate website, with no resellers or franchisees. Subsidiaries include Ferovergne (rail, 2010), CSM (handling, 2012), Combronde Packaging (2016), GC Comp\u00e9tences (2019), and the historical acquisitions Prestalog, Transports Bettoli, Arnaudin and Transports Paul Dupoux (2011\u20132021). Disclosed annual revenue is \u20ac200M with 1,200+ employees across 25+ sites.

Name

Groupe COMBRONDE

Legal name

SAS FNC FINANCES

Website

https://groupecombronde.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Groupe COMBRONDE is a family-owned French multimodal logistics group offering road, rail, river transport, warehousing, packaging, customs brokerage and in-house training to industrial and manufacturing enterprises across France and selected European corridors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Multimodal Transport and Logistics

NAICS

General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance (48412), Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Trucking (No Local) (4213)

akta.pro primary industry

LTL Consolidators & Deconsolidators (TLADAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Intermodal Drayage TL Carriers (Port/Rail Ramp Drayage) (TLADADAF), Direct-to-Consignee (DTC) / Deconsolidation & Breakbulk Distribution (TLACALAE)

Keywords

• Multimodal freight transport
• Logistics warehousing services
• Rail freight transport
• Customs brokerage services
• River barge transport

Headquarters

HQ city

Thiers

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices21 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Road transport services: Revenue generated from freight transportation services using 1,500 registered vehicles (cartes grises) across 25 agencies in France, with 650 permanent drivers. Pricing is contract-based per shipment/route, not publicly disclosed.
2. Rail/intermodal transport services: Revenue from intermodal rail-road transport, with 9 rail platforms, 2,200 trains/year, and connections to Le Havre and Fos-sur-Mer ports. Long-term enterprise contracts with industrial shippers.
3. River transport services: Revenue from Rhône river barge operations including container and ash transport (3 barges, 30,000 EVP/year, 1,150 t/week of ash). Contract-based with industrial customers.
4. Logistics and warehousing services: Revenue from 1PL to 3PL logistics services across 300,000 m² of warehousing across 15 logistics sites, including bonded warehouses and storage solutions. Managed services, contract-based.
5. Packaging services: Revenue from pallet packaging, repair and honey-comb plate verification (8M pallets/year processed, 7M plates verified) across 4 regional centers in France.
6. Customs brokerage services: Revenue from OEA-C certified customs declarations (2,000+ in 2025), bonded warehousing, and IST (Internal Storage Tax) suspension zones. Fee-based per declaration and storage.
7. Garage and bodywork (vehicle maintenance) services: Revenue from internal and external vehicle maintenance and bodywork services across 10 garages. B2C and B2B service fees.
8. Training services (GC Compétences): Revenue from Qualiopi-certified professional training programs in transport, logistics and ecological transition delivered through the in-house training center.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Groupe COMBRONDE is a French family-owned multimodal transport and logistics operator providing integrated freight services across road, rail and river transport modes. The Group complements its transport operations with 1PL-to-3PL warehousing (300,000 m² across 15 sites), pallet packaging and repair, OEA-C certified customs brokerage, vehicle maintenance and a Qualiopi-certified in-house professional training center.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ferovergne: Rail transport subsidiary created in 2010.
• Combronde Service Manutention (CSM)
• Combronde Packaging
• GC Compétences
• 2C Compétition

Products and services

• Transport Routier (Road Transport) Full-truck-load road freight transport in France and Europe using a fleet of approximately 1,500 vehicle registration cards, covering ADR dangerous goods, mobile box transport, express delivery, custom solutions, and flow management. The historic core activity of the group since 1945, sold B2B to industrial shippers.
• Transport Ferroviaire (Rail Transport) Intermodal rail freight transport across 9 owned rail platforms connected to the ports of Le Havre and Fos-sur-Mer, operating more than 2,200 trains per year. Covers maritime containers, mobile boxes/P400, palletised products, and steel products. Sold B2B to industrial shippers under long-term enterprise contracts.
• Transport Fluvial (River Transport) River freight on the Rhône using three owned barges, transporting bulk products (clinker/mâchefer) between Lyon and Loire-sur-Rhône and maritime containers between Fos-sur-Mer, Arles, Loire-sur-Rhône, and Lyon via two trimodal rail-road-river sites.
• Logistique (Warehousing and 3PL)

Quantifiable outcome

• Removes approximately 130,000 trucks per year from French roads via intermodal rail shift
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BpifrancecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-creator of the Communauté du Coq Vert community of French sustainable businesses of which Groupe Combronde is a member since 2020. Co-marketing and ESG visibility partnership.
• ADEME (Agence de la transition écologique)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-creator of the Communauté du Coq Vert community alongside Bpifrance and the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Also awarding body for LABEL CO2 held by the Group.
• Ministère de la Transition écologique (Ministry of Ecological Transition)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-creator of the Communauté du Coq Vert community alongside Bpifrance and ADEME.
• AFT (Agence pour la Formation des Transporteurs)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerDriver of the Employment Ambassador program under which Groupe Combronde was renewed as Ambassadeur de l'Emploi du Transport et de la Logistique in 2025 for three more years; co-organizes recruitment events and training partnerships.
• Hello WorkminorGTM or Marketing PartnerOnline job board and recruitment marketing platform used by Groupe Combronde to publish job offers and source candidates via the corporate website.
• FNC FINANCES (holding company)coreOthersSAS FNC FINANCES (RCS Clermont-Ferrand 402 928 642, capital 1,344,000€, APE 6402Z) is the holding company of Groupe Combronde, located at La Croix du Bransle, 63300 Thiers. Director of publication: Céline Combronde.
• GC Compétences (in-house training entity)coreOthersQualiopi-certified in-house training organization created in 2019, delivering certified transport, logistics, safety and ecological transition training to internal staff and external clients.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• STEF: French specialist in temperature-controlled multimodal logistics (road + rail + sea) with strong French and Southern European coverage. Closest direct comparable to Combronde on multimodal (road+rail) integrated food and industrial logistics in France, with overlapping product/customer profile.
• Heppner: French family-owned multimodal transport and logistics operator (road, rail, sea-air, customs). Highly comparable to Combronde: French mid-market family-controlled competitor with multimodal transport, contract logistics and customs brokerage services aimed at industrial clients.
• FM Logistic: France-founded international contract logistics and multimodal transport provider. Comparable on warehousing/3PL and road-rail integrated solutions for industrial and consumer-goods shippers, with a similar focus on sustainability initiatives.
• Transalliance: French road transport and logistics group with strong multimodal (road + rail) and pooling capabilities. Direct comparable to Combronde on French multimodal road-rail transport, contract logistics and customs services for industrial shippers.
• Compagnie Fluviale de Transport (CFT): French river barge operator on the Rhône axis. Most direct comparable to Combronde's fluvial activity (container and bulk transport on the Rhône), making it the natural peer for the river barge business line specifically.

Broad incumbents

• Geodis: SNCF-owned global logistics integrator offering road, rail, air and sea freight plus contract logistics. Directly comparable on multimodal French transport and contract logistics, but vastly larger in scale, global reach and customer base, with much broader service breadth.
• XPO Logistics (Europe): Major European road transport and contract logistics provider. Overlaps with Combronde on French LTL/TL road transport and warehousing, though with a much broader European footprint and larger fleet.
• Bolloré Logistics: France-headquartered global multimodal logistics and freight forwarding group. Comparable in multimodal transport, contract logistics and customs brokerage in France, but operates globally with significantly greater scale and digital tooling.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Global top-3 freight forwarder with strong French road, rail, sea and air forwarding plus contract logistics. Comparable multimodal/customer overlap with Combronde but operates at a different scale with global account management.
• DB Schenker (DSV): Global freight forwarder and contract logistics operator with significant French road and rail forwarding. Comparable on multimodal freight and contract logistics; much larger and internationally diversified, often acting as pan-European prime contractor alongside which Combronde plays a regional/sub-supplier role.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=61553753622446
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/groupe-combronde
• Instagraminstagram.com/groupecombronde

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Groupe COMBRONDE